Carolina Retreat: A Bright Contemporary Home Designed for View Lots

If you love contemporary architecture but still want your home to feel warm, livable, and inviting, House Plan 11879 might be the perfect match. Known as the Carolina Retreat, this striking design blends bold modern lines with an airy interior layout made for natural light, scenic views, and everyday comfort.

This plan isn’t just conceptual. The photos and video tour featured in this post come from a real client build by Tim and Cindy, who brought this design to life on a beautiful wooded lot in North Carolina. Their finished home is a perfect example of how this plan’s dramatic windows, clean rooflines, and indoor/outdoor flow can shine in a natural setting.

With 2,102 square feet, 3 bedrooms, and 2.5 bathrooms, Plan 11879 offers a smart two-story layout that feels open and expansive despite its perfectly midsize package. And thanks to its view-focused design, it works beautifully for lake lots, mountain sites, and wooded properties where the landscape becomes part of the experience.

A Contemporary Exterior That Feels Right at Home in Nature

One of the most captivating things about Plan 11879 is how it balances sleek contemporary style with a natural, site-friendly feel. The exterior features clean horizontal lines, large windows, and low-pitched modern rooflines that create a dramatic silhouette.

Instead of looking cold or overly industrial, the design feels like a modern retreat—especially when paired with a scenic wooded setting or water views. This is the kind of home that looks equally stunning in a mountain community, a lakeside neighborhood, or a peaceful rural lot.

And because the garage is positioned at the rear, the front elevation stays clean and uncluttered, giving the home a more high-end, architect-designed look.

A Two-Story Great Room Built for Natural Light

Step inside and the plan immediately delivers its biggest “wow” moment: the two-story vaulted living space.

This open living area is designed to feel bright, spacious, and connected to the outdoors. Tall windows and glass doors bring in tons of daylight while creating a strong visual connection to the patio and surrounding views.

One reason the space feels so open and light-filled is the window design. In this particular build, the owners selected Pella®, a trusted name known for high-performance, energy-efficient windows and doors. Pella® windows help maximize daylight while still supporting comfort and insulation—especially important for homes designed around large spans of glass.

A fireplace anchors the living room and adds warmth and comfort—making the space feel just as cozy in winter as it does airy and open in the summer.

Whether you’re entertaining guests, relaxing with family, or enjoying a quiet morning coffee, this great room proudly stands out as the heart of the home.

A Kitchen That’s Open, Functional, and Made for Entertaining

The kitchen in Plan 11879 is exactly what today’s homeowners want: open, connected, and highly usable.

A large island creates the perfect spot for:

Casual meals
Entertaining
Meal prep
Everyday conversation while cooking

And because this kitchen is open to the dining and living areas, the finishes and appliances play a big role in the overall look. In this build, the kitchen includes a premium mix of trusted brands—creating a space that feels both stylish and practical.

The range, wall oven, and dishwasher are by Bosch®, a brand known for sleek design, reliable performance, and quiet operation. Bosch® appliances are a popular choice for modern kitchens because they balance a clean, built-in look with strong everyday functionality.

The fridge is a Café™ Series refrigerator by GE Appliances, which brings a slightly elevated, design-forward feel to the kitchen. Café appliances are often chosen for their upscale styling and statement-making presence—especially in open-concept layouts where the kitchen is always on display.

To finish the island, the kitchen includes a sink and faucet by Kraus®, a brand known for modern fixtures that combine durability with a high-end look. It’s a small detail, but in a bright, minimalist kitchen like this, the faucet becomes part of the design.

A Main-Level Primary Suite with an Indoor/Outdoor Connection

Another standout feature of this home is the main-floor primary suite, which adds comfort, privacy, and long-term livability for owners.

Instead of being tucked away and set apart from the major highlights of the design, you’ll find the suite also includes outdoor connection through patio doors and well-placed windows—making it feel bright, peaceful, and relaxing. Again, the Pella® windows and doors play a key role here, letting in natural light while keeping the space quiet and comfortable.

The primary bathroom includes the features buyers consistently search for, including:

A double vanity
A separate tub and shower
A private toilet closet
A spacious walk-in closet

This suite setup makes the home feel like a retreat, whether you’re using it as a full-time residence or a vacation home.

Mudroom + Laundry + Powder Room = Everyday Convenience

One of the reasons this plan works so well for real families is the practical layout around the garage entry.

Where the rear side-entry garage connects to the house via a short breezeway, you’ll find a highly functional transition area that includes:

A mudroom with laundry
A powder room
A storage closet

This is one of those “quiet luxury” features that doesn’t usually show up in a rendering, but it makes daily life easier. It helps keep clutter contained, keeps mess away from the main living space, and makes the home feel organized.

A Bright, Modern Interior Palette That Still Feels Warm

Even though this is a contemporary home, the interior doesn’t feel sterile or overly stark. In this build, the walls are painted in Oatmeal from Glidden®, a warm neutral tone that softens the modern lines and adds a cozy, lived-in feel.

That color choice is a big part of why the home feels welcoming, especially when paired with the natural wood beams, clean white surfaces, and warm, wood-look tile flooring from MSI. It’s a great reminder that modern design doesn’t have to feel cold—it can be bright, inviting, and comfortable.

An Upstairs Bedroom with a Loft Overlook

The second floor is where this plan gets even more interesting.

Upstairs, you’ll find two additional bedrooms and a full bathroom along with a landing area that overlooks the foyer below.

The loft/landing also offers flexible space—perfect for:

A reading nook
A small desk or homework zone
A cozy lounge area
A display space for art or décor

And if you like a unique bedroom design, you’ll find it here. The loft bedroom has a barn door that you can slide closed or open up to look out over the great room from a small balcony. This creates a dramatic interior feel and gives the home that “architectural” quality that many smaller and simpler plans can’t achieve.

And because the upstairs bedrooms are separated from the primary suite, this plan offers a true split-bedroom layout, which is ideal for privacy.

Designed for View Lots, Vacation Living, and Modern Buyers

Plan 11879 is inspired by a popular view-lot modern design, and you can absolutely feel it in the way the windows, living spaces, and outdoor areas are positioned.

This plan is especially well suited for:

View lots
Narrow lots
Corner lots
Lake properties
Vacation home settings

With a deck and patio built into the design, outdoor living becomes part of the lifestyle—not an afterthought.

Plan 11879 at a Glance

Here are the key specifications for Carolina Retreat:

Total heated area: 2,102 sq. ft.
1st floor: 1,488 sq. ft.
2nd floor: 614 sq. ft.
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2.5
Garage: 2-car (rear side-entry)
Width: 42′ 0″
Depth: 73′ 6″
Height: 23′ 8″
Foundation: Crawlspace (slab optional)
Outdoor spaces: Covered entry porch, deck, patio

Watch the Video Tour of Plan 11879

If you want to see how this home feels in real life, be sure to watch the video tour. Seeing the two-story living room, dramatic window placement, and indoor/outdoor flow on video helps bring the design to life—especially for buyers building on scenic lots.

This tour features the real home built by Tim and Cindy in North Carolina, and we’re incredibly grateful they shared their finished build with us. Their home is a beautiful example of how Plan 11879 can feel both modern and welcoming, especially when placed in a wooded setting.

Ready to Build Your Own Carolina Retreat?

Whether you’re planning a modern vacation home or a full-time residence with a bright, contemporary layout, House Plan 11879 offers a rare blend of style, comfort, and livability.

View full plan details here:
https://www.thehousedesigners.com/plan/2-story-contemporary-2102-square-feet-3-bedrooms-2.5-bathrooms-vaulted-2-story-living-11879/

Need help choosing the right plan or customizing this design for your lot? Our expert House Plan Advisors are here to help! Just call 866-214-2242, email, or live chat and we’ll be happy to assist you with your dream house plan.

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Josh Johnson

Josh Johnson is a dynamic Marketing Specialist at The House Designers with an educational background in public relations and human resources with a special affinity for modern and historical architecture. Bringing a diverse perspective to his role, he creates innovative marketing platforms for new homeowners-to-be with compelling blog and social media content that inspires creativity and a clear vision for a beautiful and functional home. Josh also discovers new residential architects and designers around the US and Canada adding to The House Designers’ vast collection of quality house plans. When he's not immersed in marketing, you can find Josh traveling the world always on the lookout for fresh inspiration to fuel his creativity.